Retracted anesthesia study “was not conducted in reality”

We’ve come across a new way to say the data in a paper are not reliable:

It has been found that the study represented in the article was not conducted in reality.

That’s from the retraction note for a paper that Anesthesia Essays and Researches has retracted for data falsification. The rest of the retraction note for “Intrathecal dextmedetomidine to reduce shoulder tip pain in laparoscopic cholecystectomies under spinal anesthesia” explains:

The corresponding author who designed the article, confirmed the same that other contributors unethically submitted the investigation. Therefore, on the grounds of falsification of data and unethical code of conduct, the article is being retracted.

The editor in chief  of the journal told us that the corresponding author received data from the other authors, only to discover later that he couldn’t find a record that proved the study had been done. The corresponding author, Joginder Pal Attri, who is affiliated with the Government Medical College in India, signed off on the retraction note. 

The abstract says the study involved 60 patients, who were divided into two groups each administered two different doses anesthesia. The paper has not been cited, according to Thomson Reuters Web of Science.

We’ve reached out to Attri, and to last author Ranjana Khetarpal, affiliated with the Patiala Surgical Centre. We could not find contact info for first author Tarundeep Bhatia, whose LinkedIn page says he is a private practice anesthesiologist in India.

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